According to this email, which purports to be from ‘Apple Genius Assistance’, you must review your Apple ID information within two days. Supposedly, Apple is required by law under ‘KYC legislation’ to perform an account verification.
The email warns that failing to complete the verification will result in the ‘deletion of your Apple and iCloud’.
However, the email is just a rather lame phishing scam designed to trick people into divulging their personal and financial information to cybercriminals.
If you click the link in the scam email, you will be taken to a fraudulent website and asked to login with your Apple ID credentials. After logging in, another fake form will ask for credit card details, contact details, and other ID information, ostensibly so that you can complete the validation process and avoid account deletion.
All of the information submitted can be collected by criminals and used to hijack your Apple account, conduct fraudulent transactions, and commit identity theft.
KYC stands for ‘Know Your Customer’, a process or set of guidelines that businesses may use to verify the identity of customers.
Apple customers are regularly targeted in phishing scams. Be wary of any unsolicited message that claims that you must click a link or open an attached file to verify or update account information or rectify a supposed account issue.
Examples
Apple/iCloud ID – – [Email address removed]
This is the last notice to inform you as of 11 – August – 2015 that you have not yet reviewed your Apple ID information. Under “Know your Customer (KYC)” legislation Apple Inc is required to carry out a one time a validation of your Apple ID, failure to do so will result in deletion of your Apple ID within the next day.
Please continue to »
Login to your Apple/iCloud Profile
To prevent the deletion of your iCloud ID please proceed to your Apple ID profile page before the scheduled deletion time.
Case ID: #UJ18KOI1216561764
Regards,
Apple iGenius Care
iCloud ID – [Email address removed]
This is the last message to notify you as of 03 – June – 2015 that you have not yet updated your Apple Profile details. Under “Know your Customer” legislation Apple is required to perform a validation of your information, failure to complete this validation will result in deletion of your Apple ID and associated information within the next two days.
Please click below to »
Update your iCloud Profile
To stop the deletion of your Apple ID please proceed to continue to your Apple ID profile before the scheduled deletion time.
Case Support Request ID: #TI8OIJ471416164
Regards,
Apple Genius Care
Apple ID – [email address removed]
This is the final email to notify you as of 04 – May – 2015 that you have not yet reviewed your Apple ID information. Under “KYC” legislation Apple Inc is required by law to perform a verification of your Apple ID, failure to complete this validation will result in deletion of your Apple ID and associated information within the next two days.
Please proceed to »
Login to your iCloud ID
To cancel the deletion of your Apple and iCloud proceed to continue to your Apple ID settings before the scheduled deletion time.
Resolution Ticket ID: #D2LD10320314910
Sincerely,
Apple Genius Assistance
Importance Notice
After considerable thought and with an ache in my heart, I have decided that the time has come to close down the Hoax-Slayer website.These days, the site does not generate enough revenue to cover expenses, and I do not have the financial resources to sustain it going forward.
Moreover, I now work long hours in a full-time and physically taxing job, so maintaining and managing the website and publishing new material has become difficult for me.
And finally, after 18 years of writing about scams and hoaxes, I feel that it is time for me to take my fingers off the keyboard and focus on other projects and pastimes.
When I first started Hoax-Slayer, I never dreamed that I would still be working on the project all these years later or that it would become such an important part of my life. It's been a fantastic and engaging experience and one that I will always treasure.
I hope that my work over the years has helped to make the Internet a little safer and thwarted the activities of at least a few scammers and malicious pranksters.
A Big Thank You
I would also like to thank all of those wonderful people who have supported the project by sharing information from the site, contributing examples of scams and hoaxes, offering suggestions, donating funds, or helping behind the scenes.I would especially like to thank David White for his tireless contribution to the Hoax-Slayer Facebook Page over many years. David's support has been invaluable, and I can not thank him enough.
Closing Date
Hoax-Slayer will still be around for a few weeks while I wind things down. The site will go offline on May 31, 2021. While I will not be publishing any new posts, you can still access existing material on the site until the date of closure.Thank you, one and all!
Brett Christensen,
Hoax-Slayer
